


Stranger, Please Stay

by MatchLight



Category: District 9 (2009)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22465975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatchLight/pseuds/MatchLight
Summary: Christopher promised him three years. Wikus waited for twenty.
Relationships: Christopher Johnson/Wikus van der Merwe
Comments: 13
Kudos: 113





	Stranger, Please Stay

**Author's Note:**

> I watched District 9 for the first time and it took my breath away. I wrote this fic very quickly so there might be mistakes. Anyways, please enjoy! :D

Wikus wasn't sure when he had stopped counting the days. Perhaps it was after the three year mark, when time trickled away into nothing and there still wasn't a single sign of Christopher in the vast yellow sky of Johannesburg. Occasionally, he remembered to scratch a tally, but when the floorboard of his flimsy tent ran out of space, he simply stopped.

Wikus didn't even register when he had started to refer to the Prawns as 'us' instead of 'them'. The remaining of his human skin was fully shedded within the first week that Christopher had took off. He made sure to check himself every day, first thing in the morning when he would wake up, in the reflection of a polished bronze plate. Now, fiddling with his mandibles, he couldn't recall the shape of his nose and eyes. He knew he had blue eyes. Or maybe they were grey, he wasn't too sure.

One the first things he had lost count of - before he had lost count of the days - was the name of his co-workers. Wikus knew he had an intern following him around when he was working for the MNU. What was his name again? F... Fu...it started with F or something.

It didn't really matter, they all thought him dead anyways. Fucked an alien, caught a disease, institutionalised, escaped, then died, in the slums of District 9.

This didn't bother him like it used to. The only regret he had was not seeing his wife again. But even that was often pressed to the back of his mind. His focus and energy, nowadays, was mainly directed to maintaining his own survival. Food. Cat food. Water. Fighting off the other Prawns that's bothering him.

And fight with other Prawns he did. At first, when ideas of Christopher's return had occupied his every thought, he had tried to keep a civilised distance with his neighbours. He'd seen how easily they shredded Koobus (That's a name he would never forget, alongside Christopher and Tania). But in District 10, hunger was a strong motivator. When his transformation completed, he felt strength he had never experienced before, not even during his track team days back in high school. He was willing to put aside his humanity for a few scraps of food.

"Fuck" he yelled, trying to scare away other Prawns. It was the only human word that he could still pronounce, and he held onto that with vanity. It was something to be proud of, he thought, it made him different.

"FUCK!" he yelled again, mandibles clicking in excitement as he kicked another Prawn and snatched up the leg of the lamb that they were wrestling for.

A gun shot cracked near them, Wikus yelped and scurried off with his prize back to his little tent.

Only after he had scoffed down the raw meat and his hunger satiated did he take pause. _Disgusting_. He cursed at himself and looked into the bronze mirror, wriggling his feelers. _Disgusting. You're a fucking animal._

~

Although Wikus tried not to think about Tania too often during the day - in fear of tainting her somehow , that to imagine her with his dirty body in a dirty place like this would tarnish her - he couldn't help himself but dream about her.

He dreamed of her soft smiles and her angelic hair. He would hold her with his deformed, ugly arms. There would be no fear in her eyes, only sympathy and understanding. Then he would kiss her.

But after three years of waiting turned into four, and four turned into how ever many years he had waited today, the clarity of her face fades from his memories. And her presence in his dreams was gradually replaced, at first, by faceless women. Any woman, it did not matter, but they were at least human.

Then one time, in the middle of the night, Wikus startled awake, feverish and hot with Christopher's name on the edge of his lips. It was then that he knew, he could never return to Tania. He laid awake until the sun rose, faced turned into the mattress in shame.

He spent a lot of time thinking about Christopher the following day. He wondered if he was left behind. Three years certainly passed, perhaps another three had, too. Maybe Christopher had returned home and found a comfortable life with his son and Wikus had been unintentionally forgotten?

He couldn't even pronounce Christopher's name anymore. One morning, during his ritualistic self-examination, he stared intently into the bronze mirror and tried to flex the tentacles around his mouth into syllables. Fuck, he couldn't even pronounce his own name. Wikus laughed, or perhaps he was crying, it sounded like crickets on a hot summer's night.

After that, he chucked the bronze mirror into the trash piles on the street.

~

Someday, he was not sure when, Wikus had lost the only photo of Tania and didn't even realise. To be honest, he had almost forgotten about the picture until he unwrapped the bandages on his arms to replace it with a pair of gloves and found it missing. He barely remembered what his wife looked like, only the fine imprints of a halo around a feminine face remained in his mind.

He didn't know how he had lost the photo but he didn't bother looking for it. His desire to recover the picture was very quickly pushed aside by hunger and the desire to steal a can of cat food.

~

Wikus scurried the junk piles for more pieces of metal. He wasn't sure why he was collecting them, he must have known once, but now, it just felt nice in his hands when he tinkered with them.

He was examining a particularly shiny scrap when he felt a deep vibration course through his entire body. He dropped what he was holding and looked around. The other Prawns had felt it too. They clicked and fidgeted around, and Wikus joined in with their nervous clicking.

Then, out of the smokey, dirt coloured sky of Johannesburg, for the second time in human history, a great shadow descended, blocking out the light of the sun.

_Christopher..._

He's back! Wikus jumped, clicking loudly, rippling in the joy that radiated from the Prawns around him. He came back!

In his peripheral, Wikus saw the humans clutch tightly to their guns, slinking away into the shadows. District 10 hosted significantly less humans than district 9. They were outnumbered, the gathering crowd of agitated Prawns frightened them.

Yet, as excited as Wikus was, when the ship came to a stop directly on top of the centre of District 10, a strange sense of trepidation washed over him. Would Christopher still remember him? It had been a very long time, plus he looked very different now.

A shuttle detached from the mother ship. Wikus inched along with the crowd, eager to see what was going on.

The Prawns chattered with enthusiasm, especially the young ones. For them, home was a planet that they had never even seen before.

After a few agonisingly long minutes, the shuttle finally settled on a bit of empty land that had functioned as the centre square - a socialising market. Then with a hiss that Wikus couldn't hear but could imagine, the doors to the shuttle opened and out came two Prawns, each with a gun that were different from the ones found in MNU or District 9.

The crowd chittered and buzzed, Wikus couldn't find anything to say. The arrivals wore no clothes, but they had a long cape mounted on their shoulders. Strange colourful strips covered their arms and legs in a scribe that he had never seen before.

One of the Prawns moved forward from their little party and let out a loud shrill and the gathered people fell silent.

Then he emitted a few loud clicks. Not words, Wikus realised, but it sent a direct feeling into his mind, echoing a message of safety and home. Salvation.

With another few clicks and trills, the crowd dispersed. Wikus was left dazed, standing against the flow. What were they doing? He waded against the shuffling masses towards the shuttle. He needed to find Christopher.

Seeing his approach, the Prawn that gave the little 'speech' whistled a query.

"I'm looking for one of you... Kis... Krisos..." _Curse his Prawn mouth_ , "He left a long time ago and he promised me he would be back."

Wikus looked at the Prawn expectedly, who turned to his companion and whispered clicks too soft for him to catch. They exchanged glances, looked at him, and went back into the shuttle.

Wikus waited outside, confused. The sun was setting but the doors did not open again. He went back to his little tent. Something heavy weighed in his heart.

~

District 10 emptied out very fast. The Prawns took what little belongings they had and left for the shuttles as soon as possible.

Perhaps Wikus should start packing, too. But where will he go? With the Prawns? He shooked his head. How can home be a place he had never seen before? The stars were so far away.

The few that were left in District 10 are those who were born on earth. Wikus felt like they were in the same predicament.

~

It was three days later when it finally happened. Wikus was tinkering with pieces of metal when two Prawns showed up by his tent. They wore similar capes to the two that came from the shuttle.

Wikus didn't recognise them, they must be from the mothership.

"How can I help you?" Asked Wikus as he slowly shifted out of his tent.

The green Prawn quirked his antenna in an amused way, "You saved my life. I have come back to save yours."

This is... This is Christopher? Wikus barely remembered what he looked like. All the Prawns looked the same back then.

He was not sure what to say. Wikus had fantasised about Christopher's return many times, almost daily when the Prawn had first left. Each time, he imagined it to be spectacularly emotional and exciting. He had planned the numerous things he would say. But now, his mouth felt dry and all he could do was fidget with his mandibles.

"Oh." was all he managed.

"Don't be a stranger my friend," Christopher clicked and pointed to his companion proudly, "my son, I hope you still remember him."

Wikus looked to the Prawn standing behind Christopher, who trilled at him in greeting. He was big, at least a head taller than himself, and his green exoskeleton had a silver sheen to it.

That's CJ? Really? When they had left, the kid was barely taller than his knee. He knew Prawns grew slowly. He learnt it somewhere.

Wikus felt sick, his mandibles vibrated and he took a step back. How long had he waited for their return?

"How long did I wait?" He croaked out.

Christopher looked surprised by that question, "I'm sorry?"

"I uh," Wikus trilled, unable to stop the slight tremble in his hands, "I didn't really keep track of the time... How long?"

CJ looked away, and Christopher had the nerve to look ashamed. He clicked softly, "twenty of your years."

Twenty years.

Two decades. Two zero. 7 times the amount Christopher had promised.

There was no room to pace between the tent and his guests, so Wikus squatted down and scrunched up his antenna in his hands. It hurt.

“Fuck!” When he was twenty. He was already working. When Tania was twenty, she almost finished her bachelor degree. _How did he let so many years slip away?_ "FUCK!"

He whipped around and socked Christopher in the face, hard. The Prawn stumbled back. CJ looked like he wanted to interfere but didn't.

"YOU LEFT ME ON THIS PLANET FOR TWENTY FOKKING YEARS!"

"Not just you! My people, too!" Christopher grunted, rubbing at his face, “we leave in 2 months, after everyone has boarded the ship. More of us awaits by the edge of your solar system if things gets ugly. We should start your transformation now if we want to make it in time."

"Now?" Wikus voiced out loud, dread pushing his anger aside. Christopher had promised to save him, it was one of the reasons why he returned. Wikus gave up on the hopes of a cure a long time ago. He could barely remember his life as a human.

"Yes," Christopher said and started walking, shooing CJ in the direction of the mothership and dragging Wikus along.

Then he suddenly stopped, turned around slowly and, as if an afterthought, he added softly, "Unless you don't want to?"

There was a weird tremor in Christopher's voice and Wikus was not sure how to answer the question. When the aliens had first arrived on Earth. He was in pre-school. Back then, he dreamed of space travels and seeing stars beyond the stars he could see at night. Then when the incident in District 9 happened, he was in his thirties. Which meant he spent the first half of his life learning about aliens, and the second half actually being one.

What would he do once he returned to being human? Living the rest of his life as an old man with no wife, no friends, shunned by society? How long can the bugs live then? Fucking long he was sure. Christopher doesn't look old. In fact, he looked cleaner, shinier, with paint and engravings on his limbs. Hell, he looked younger.

"I..." Wikus hesitated.

"I'll give you time to think. But not too long, we are in a hurry. Come to the mothership tomorrow." Said Christopher and he walked away, but not before he patted Wikus awkwardly on the arm. A very human gesture. CJ chirped a goodbye.

He had one day to think about it. He waited for twenty fucking years and it all came down to this one day. He kicked a tin can at his feet and watched it bounce in the empty street.

"Fucking Krisofer fuck."

~

The shuttle to the mothership was bumpy. Wikus spent the time looking out of the window and mapping out the entirety of District 10. He feared this would be the last time he would be able to see this view.

When he arrived, he and the others were quickly hustled into a central room. Wikus was not sure he had ever seen so many Prawns congregated in one place before. There were barely any space to walk.

He asked around for Christopher until a big Prawn spotted him and brought him to a smaller side room in which he was told to wait.

Wikus was beginning to get anxious when Christopher finally came to greet him. He was led down a long corridor, and into a strange room that resembled an office.

"We can start the surgery now." Christopher prompted, "it will take a few weeks for you to recover."

The green Prawn was holding up a large vial. Wikus was unable to look away from it and wriggled his antenna. It was the cure. "The thing is, I don't even know how to be human anymore... It was so long ago, I barely even remember myself."

Christopher paused, "Do you choose to remain here?"

"I... You spent a long time on that cure."

"Don't let that cloud your choice.” Christopher laughed, “I will not deny you if you wish to stay."

Wikus thought of his wife, her blond hair and her indistinct face. Was such a perfect angelic creature even real? Or was it just a feverish fantasy he conjured up in District 10? He looked to the vial in his friend’s hands and thought of all the things he had done in the past twenty years. Filthy. Debased. Subhuman.

Wikus shook his head, his eyes fixed on the floor. "Take me with you. Please."

Christopher placed the vial down a little chute by the side of the room, and rested his hand on Wikus’ shoulder. It was uncomfortable, but tender in a strange way.

"Welcome then, brother,” Christopher said and smiled, “It will be a long journey home."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always welcome! :D


End file.
